Deer hunting with .223/5.56

[phreakboy83]

5.56 SMK will penetrate the rib cage then shrapnel inside the vital area. It actually does not ruin much meat at all compared to a 270 or 308/300 which usually destroys both shoulders and sometimes part of the back straps if hit high. Last season I had even more succees with the new 77 TMK in 5.56. Killed every deer I shot with it last year. I may have some photos of deer skinned out and what the chest area looked like after it was skinned. I think I have a pic of an elk killed with TMK also. Will post if I can find them. I was using 14.5 and 10.3 DD barrels suppressed and unsupressed.

[cobra246]

This topic comes up quite often. And its been a huge debate about whether the .223/5.56 is an ethical choice for big game. But frankly if you're comfortable with it and its reasonably capable of taking the target animal at a reasonable range then i dont see why not use it.
Btw heres my hunting rifle


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[phreakboy83]

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[phreakboy83]

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Son shot his first spike

[phreakboy83]

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Can't find the pic I was thinking of but found these of the 2 cow elk shot with 5.56TMK

[fledge]

Elk with 556? Where was that pic taken? Though impressive, it's illegal in CO to use a caliber that size on elk.

[phreakboy83]

Texas. Private Hunting Ranch.

[BufordTJustice]

I agree that, with proper ammo selection, 5.56 is fine. But there is also the ability to use a 16" 308. Throw a can on that and it becomes an attractive option.

But I've taken some very large and angry hogs with 5.56 (and other calibers) and many of them were DRT. None who ran, ran appreciably further than kills with 300 or .308.

My favorite hog rounds are Hornady TAP 5.56 70gr GMX and Federal XM556FBIT3 62gr TBBC.

[Eurodriver]

I know this has been beat up, even by me, but can someone tell me:

If you have a .223 semi auto capable of hitting sub-MOA out to 600 yards (I do) and you were hunting southeastern deer not getting any bigger than 180lbs...

What would be the absolute furthest you would shoot a deer, and what bullet/round would you use?

Here's my issue. Where I hunt in SC there is one stand that has about 3 shooting lanes that go out to 150 yards max. I'm not concerned about this. A second one has a maximum range of about 350 yards. This affords pretty good cover and if I see a big buck I can get out of the stand and get a bit closer if I have to.

But the last one is almost 600 yards. I know a .223 isn't wise that far so I'm just curious how close I can get and still make a clean kill using a .223 assuming I get a perfect vital hit.

[Rekkr870]

I know this has been beat up, even by me, but can someone tell me:

If you have a .223 semi auto capable of hitting sub-MOA out to 600 yards (I do) and you were hunting southeastern deer not getting any bigger than 180lbs...

What would be the absolute furthest you would shoot a deer, and what bullet/round would you use?

Here's my issue. Where I hunt in SC there is one stand that has about 3 shooting lanes that go out to 150 yards max. I'm not concerned about this. A second one has a maximum range of about 350 yards. This affords pretty good cover and if I see a big buck I can get out of the stand and get a bit closer if I have to.

But the last one is almost 600 yards. I know a .223 isn't wise that far so I'm just curious how close I can get and still make a clean kill using a .223 assuming I get a perfect vital hit.

I've shot deer with a .223 AR up to 275 yards. I'd have no problem shooting one if it was at 350 yards as well; I've still got about 600ft lbs of energy at that range. I do agree that 600 yards is a bit of a hike for the .223 and hunting.

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